Within many fields, and specifically within substrate manufacturing and related industries, the efficient and proper handling, storage and processing of materials such as substrates is exceedingly important. Since the introduction of the 300-mm wafer semiconductor material, Front Opening Unified Pods, or “FOUPs,” have become the standard storage and transport method of substrates and similar materials. FOUPs have been used to isolate and hold silicon wafers for use in semiconductor production. Semiconductors, fundamental in the design of digital circuitry, microprocessors, and transistors, require these wafers to remain in as close to immaculate condition as storage units allow. Accordingly, FOUPs allow wafers to be transferred between other machines used in the processing and measurement of wafers.
Prior FOUPs generally serve to preserve wafers from the surrounding clean room environment. Yet FOUPs today may be hampered by methods and system designs which may contaminate their contents, chafe wafers, and delay loading and unloading of substrate wafer contents as a result of multifarious construction. In addition, FOUPs may be inherently limited in their design such that bottle necks and other system inefficiencies may hold up processing or other systems. Thus, there is a need for an invention that more efficiently and accurately accomplishes the desired tasks of FOUPs when working within a larger system construct such as an assembly line or processing line, but also provides for high density storage and buffering capabilities, where at any given moment, a FOUP may be called or requested by the line, and as such storage of wafers near processing area is needed.
Issues with prior substrate storage devices may be exacerbated with construction sizes of typical FOUPs, which may be produced in multiple stages of multiple parts, typically holding a maximum of 25 wafer jobs of 300 mm wafer fibs and device heights of upwards of 330 mm. Recalling that high volume shipments may be imperative, the size of these FOUPs hamper scaling efforts and diminish efficiency by requiring the construction of the storage FOUPs in steps and parts, especially if smaller sized containers may be created to contain the same volume of substrate.
Thus, a substrate storage system, which includes improved design and innovations over the Prior Art FOUPs and associated systems and devices is necessary. There is a need for a storage system, method and apparatus which streamlines processes and increases efficiency of creation and ease of replication in the manufacturing process as well as provide a resilient system hierarchy and steps, of which the ability for quick and efficient storage and retrieval as a key part of the method, system or apparatus.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a device which may be used for substrate or wafer containment, transportation, storage and holding in semiconductor manufacturing or like processes as well as provide a system, method or apparatus to aide in the movement and resiliency of the ability to move FOUPS, and substrates, wafers and product such as substrates and Tec-Cell Wafers and systems through a high density and efficient storage ability, where FOUP's may be filled on demand.